Article 156: Medicinal Diets, Daily Precautions and Prevention of Syphilis, and an Overview of Genital Herpes

◇A Guide to Caring for Your Husband's Health as a Good Wife◇

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Treatment and recuperation of common diseases

11. Smilax glabra 60g, Lonicera japonica 20g, Dioscorea hypoglauca, Alisma plantago-aquatica, Glycyrrhiza uralensis 10g each, Angelica sinensis, Phellodendron chinense, Angelica dahurica 5g each. Concentrate into a paste, 10ml each time, twice a day, suitable for primary and secondary syphilis.

12. Grind equal parts of gypsum, phellodendron bark, and calomel into a very fine powder. Sprinkle the dry powder onto the ulcerated area 2-3 times a day. This is suitable for patients with hard chancre ulcers.

13. Apply 5 grams each of calcined gypsum and cinnabar to the sore, or dip a medicated thread in the medicated solution and insert it into the ulcer, then cover with ointment. This is suitable for swollen and ulcerated lymph nodes in syphilis, or ulceration of the skin in tertiary syphilis.

14. Prepare a powder by grinding 15g calamine, 9g stalactite, 6g amber, 30g talc, 3g cinnabar, and 0.3g borneol into a very fine powder. Sprinkle the powder onto the ulcerated area and cover with an ointment. This is suitable for swollen and ulcerated lymph nodes in syphilis, or ulceration of the skin in tertiary syphilis.

15. Grind 150g of Bauhinia bark, 90g of Angelica pubescens root, 60g of Paeonia lactiflora root, 45g of Acorus tatarinowii rhizome, and 30g of Angelica dahurica root into a fine powder. Mix with scallion juice and aged wine and apply externally to the affected area. Suitable for syphilitic lymphadenopathy and tertiary cutaneous syphilis without ulceration.

Medicinal diet for treating syphilis

1. Ingredients: 6g Ligusticum chuanxiong, 6g Clematis chinensis, 6g Cicadae periostracum, 9g Ephedra sinica, 500g mutton (chopped). Preparation: First, boil the mutton until tender. Add the broth to the herbs and decoct to obtain the medicinal liquid. Consume the meat and drink the liquid three times a day (morning, noon, and evening). Functions: Dispels wind and detoxifies, invigorates blood and removes blood stasis. Used for early-stage syphilis.

2. Prepared Rehmannia Root 10g, Cornus Fruit 10g, Cistanche Root 3g, Prepared Aconite Root 5g, Cinnamon Bark 3g, Poria Cocos 10g, Ophiopogon Root 10g, Dendrobium Root 10g, Acorus Root 5g, Polygala Root 5g, and appropriate amount of sugar. Grind the above 10 herbs into coarse powder, decoct with 300ml of water to obtain 150ml, remove the dregs, and add appropriate amount of sugar to taste. Drink 80ml each time, twice a day. Functions to nourish Yin and warm the kidneys, used for syphilis due to deficiency of kidney Yin and Yang.

3. 15g of catechu, 15g of tea leaves, 15g of pangolin scales, and 15g of angelica root. Add appropriate amounts of water and wine to the above ingredients, decoct, remove the dregs, and take warm, one dose daily. Functions to clear heat and detoxify, invigorate blood and dissipate nodules. Used for early-stage syphilis with hard, painful nodules.

4. 500g Smilax glabra, 500ml white honey, 500g glutinous rice flour. Remove the outer skin of the Smilax glabra, grind it into a fine powder, mix it with the white honey and glutinous rice flour, steam into a cake and eat. Functions: Clears heat, removes dampness, and detoxifies. Used for internal damp-heat, syphilis rashes resembling red beans embedded in the flesh, hard like beads, or with itching and slight pain, red tongue, thin yellow coating, and slippery, rapid pulse.

How can one be considered cured of syphilis after treatment?

Syphilis patients can be cured with timely and adequate treatment, and the criteria for cure vary depending on the type and stage.

The criteria for curing early syphilis are: the spirochetes in the patient's body are completely eliminated, the syphilis serological reaction turns negative, and there are no clinical symptoms.

Patients with late-stage syphilis are considered cured when their symptoms completely disappear after treatment. It is not required that the syphilis serological reaction turn negative, because a small number of late-stage patients may still have a positive serological reaction even after long-term and sufficient anti-syphilis treatment.

What should we pay attention to in daily life?

Because syphilis has a long course and can cause irreversible damage to the patient's tissues and organs in its later stages, it requires patients to actively seek treatment. Furthermore, primary and secondary syphilis are highly contagious; patients in the early stages of syphilis should take precautions to avoid transmitting the pathogen to others.

1. Treatment should adhere to the principles of early intervention and adequate dosage. Penicillin is effective against Treponema pallidum (syphilis bacillus) with few side effects. With consistent treatment under the guidance of a physician, complications can be reduced, the disease cured, and health restored as soon as possible. During treatment, the patient's spouse also needs to be examined and, if necessary, treated. Regular follow-up examinations are required after recovery. If signs of relapse appear, the dosage of antibiotics should be increased.

2. Pay attention to details in daily life to prevent transmission to others: Early-stage syphilis patients are highly contagious. Although the infectivity of late-stage syphilis gradually decreases, precautions should still be taken. Wash your underwear and towels separately and promptly, and boil them for disinfection. Do not share bath water with others. When chancres or condyloma latum on the vulva or perianal area occur, you can use traditional Chinese medicine decoctions with heat-clearing, detoxifying, dampness-removing, and insecticidal properties for fumigation and sitz baths.

3. Patients with early-stage syphilis are required to abstain from sexual intercourse. Those who have had the disease for more than two years should also avoid sexual activity as much as possible, and condoms must be used during sexual contact. If the patient is unmarried, marriage is permitted only after the syphilis has been cured.

4. Secondary syphilis can cause systemic reactions, requiring bed rest. During the illness, pay attention to nutrition and strengthen your immunity.

How to prevent

1. Syphilis is 95% transmitted through sexual intercourse. Therefore, adhering to monogamy, strengthening understanding and communication between husband and wife, enhancing their relationship, and resolutely resisting the temptations of unhealthy lifestyles such as eating, drinking, prostitution, and gambling will greatly reduce the chances of contracting syphilis.

2. If there is a syphilis patient in the household, the patient's clothing, towels, and basins should be washed and disinfected promptly, and the towels and basins used should be kept separate from those of other family members. Sexual intercourse is prohibited during the illness.

3. When one spouse is ill, the other spouse should also routinely undergo medical examinations to ensure early detection and treatment. Sexual intercourse is strictly prohibited until the illness is cured.

4. Although syphilis infection through contact with an infected person is extremely rare, avoid bathing in public bathhouses and do not use public toilets with seated toilets. Do not share your own towels, basins, or underwear with others. Remember to wash your hands before and after using the toilet.

5. All suspected patients should undergo preventive examinations and syphilis serological tests to facilitate early detection and timely treatment of new cases. Syphilis patients must be forcibly isolated and treated. Their clothing and personal items, such as towels, clothes, razors, tableware, and bedding, must be strictly disinfected under the guidance of medical personnel to eliminate the source of infection.

6. Unmarried male and female patients cannot get married until they are cured.

7. Patients who have received treatment should be given regular follow-up treatment.

Genital herpes

Genital herpes is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the herpes simplex virus infecting the skin and mucous membranes of the anus and genitals, resulting in blisters, ulcers, and inflammation.

Causes of disease

Herpes simplex virus infection is a systemic disease. The virus enters the human body through the respiratory tract, oral cavity, genital mucosa or broken skin. It can lie dormant in normal mucosa, blood, saliva, local sensory ganglia and most organs. Herpes simplex virus can be isolated from almost all internal organs and mucosal epidermis.

Primary infections are mostly asymptomatic or subclinical, with only a small percentage (approximately 1%–10%) developing clinical symptoms. They are primarily seen in immunocompromised infants, severely malnourished children, or children with other infections; they are rare in adults. After the primary infection subsides, the virus can remain latent in the body. More than half of the normal population are carriers of this virus and can become a source of infection through oral and nasal secretions. Because herpes simplex virus does not produce permanent immunity in humans, whenever the body's resistance is weakened, such as during a febrile infectious disease, gastrointestinal dysfunction, focal infection, excessive fatigue, or changes in emotional state or environment, the latent herpes simplex virus can be reactivated, leading to illness.

Herpes simplex virus 1 infection mainly causes oral herpes, pharyngitis, keratoconjunctivitis and sporadic encephalitis, while herpes simplex virus 2 infection mainly causes genital herpes, but there are also cases of the opposite in clinical practice.

About one week after herpes simplex virus infection, neutralizing antibodies appear in the blood, peaking at 3-4 weeks and lasting for many years. These antibodies can clear the virus and help the body recover, but most individuals cannot completely eliminate the virus or prevent recurrence; the virus remains latent in the host for a long time. The clinical course of acute initial genital herpes infection is similar in individuals infected with different subtypes of herpes simplex virus, but the recurrence rate of genital lesions differs. Approximately 90% of those initially infected with herpes simplex virus type 2 will experience one recurrence within 12 months (an average of 4 recurrences), while only 50% of those initially infected with herpes simplex virus type 1 will experience a similar recurrence (an average of less than 1 recurrence). The recurrence rate of genital herpes simplex virus type 2 infection varies greatly among different individuals and even within the same patient throughout their lifetime, with most experiencing 5-9 recurrences per year, generally occurring within 1-4 months after the primary herpes lesions have subsided. Some patients experience relapses due to triggering factors such as fever, menstruation, sun exposure, cold, and certain viral infections. A characteristic of these relapses is that they often occur in the same location each time. There may be prodromal symptoms such as local itching before the relapse, and burning or tingling sensations at the site of infection several hours before the rash appears.